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Andrew Bradley || The Journey into Real Estate

By Jenna Fearnley / Aug 21, 2017

From the military to the fitness industry to real estate, Andrew Bradley has had an intriguing and colourful career that has led him to be the owner and Director of the Place Estate Agent’s Coorparoo office.

Andrew was a physical training instructor, spending three years in the navy and 11 in the Airforce. This taught him great discipline, attention to detail and respect for the people he worked with and for.

In 2001, Andrew discovered a true love for real estate when he was looking to buy his first investment. He purchased a one bedroom apartment in Greenslopes, and from there, he continued to research how to best grow his property portfolio; his enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed.

When he was exploring rental options for his apartment, a manager at a boutique agency asked the question, “do you have an interest in real estate?”

In 2003, he became a sales agent with the company.

Place Public Relations Manager, Jenna Fearnley, sat down with Andrew to hear about the beginnings of Place Coorparoo.

How did you make the transition into real estate?

When I entered real estate, I was young and fresh. I had great enthusiasm, but no real experience in the property industry.

What I did have, was sales experience.

I used to teach sales training in fitness industry, so when I became a real estate agent, I changed the model of what I was selling. The skills and strategies were very transferrable.

From selling gym memberships to selling homes, I had picked it up within the first six months.

What made you decide to open your own office?

I always had ambitions of owning a real estate agency but needed more experience under my belt. I thought to myself, “how can I enhance my career so I can develop personal growth and a strong property portfolio?”

I wanted to work with the agency that best suited me and where I could see myself as a potential business owner. I had shopped around and had an interview with Paul Curtain at Place Estate Agents. Not long after, I joined the team, specialising in Coorparoo and surrounds.

From there, I had grown to having a lot of dominance in Coorparoo and great relationships with the Directors of Place. Once I built confidence, I approached Damian and the team about opening a Place office.

It took me two years from that conversation to hone my skills as an agent and a future business owner of the Place group.

I opened the first franchise office on April fool’s day in 2011 in Market Place, which at the time was called Samuel village.

We now have a strong hold in the area and are consistently in the top three within the Place Group. It’s a credit to my team and how they work tirelessly to achieve the best results for their clients.

Why did you choose this location?

Market Place on Boundary road is the centrepiece of the surrounding areas of where I wanted to service.

It’s the red dot on the dart board - all the areas surrounding have great growth and amenities. It’s in a nice shopping precinct with high traffic flow and foot traffic. I don’t think we could get a better location.

What are the greatest achievements?

Honestly, the greatest achievement has been growing a team and seeing how happy they are when they come to work.

It’s not about me at all. I get great satisfaction from nurturing and supporting our people, seeing them succeed in their careers and family lives.

Along with that, it’s a wonderful feeling seeing the smiles on the faces of buyers and sellers as they go through their exciting property milestones.

What are the greatest challenges within real estate and what you do?

The greatest challenge is trying to be one-step ahead of real estate trends. Whether it be technology, the ever-changing digital world, negotiation strategies etc.

Along with that, finding the right people who suit our culture and believe in our core value, which is “We are family and we are Coorparoo”.

What’s the most memorable experience?

You’ll never forget the first person who trusted you to sell their prized possession - their home. It was in Western street, Coorparoo. I will always be thankful. I secured the listing from sending them a letter!

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What an Amazing Place | 7 Years of Place New Farm

By Jenna Fearnley / Jul 07, 2017

Once an historic theatre, followed by a fish and chip shop called Codpiece, this popular premise on Brunswick street was converted into the dynamic Place Estate Agents New Farm office seven years ago, and more recently, underwent a modern transformation to cater for the growing business demands.

Opening the doors during a financially challenging time where many companies were closing their doors, the Place New Farm office was about to defy odds.

Behind the birth of this highly-successful business was agent Judy Goodger, who came on-board as managing director of Place and the local office in 2010.

Judy Goodger shares with PR Manager Jenna Fearnley the story behind the successful growth of Place New Farm and the inspiration behind their new office renovation.

What are some of the greatest achievements for the New Farm office over the past 7 years?

The New Farm office opened in one of the toughest markets in 2010, so our greatest achievement has been growing an incredibly strong team in Brisbane’s most competitive property market. We are consistently in the top three for sales volume and frequently achieve the top office marketing award across the Place Group. What makes our office so special is the atmosphere we have created – it is energetic, fun and supportive, which are important attributes when working tirelessly to achieve the best results. In 2010, we started with a small sales team and no property management staff, now we have seven high performing lead agents. While we are relatively small in terms of staff numbers, we are a dynamic team and punch well above our weight.

Why did you choose Brunswick Street, New Farm?

We saw a hole in this marketplace at the time and it was a natural progression for myself and Place. I live in New Farm and have a strong name within the local community that I built over the length of my career and it just seemed like the right fit at the time as the Bulimba office dominated the eastern suburbs.

It is a central location that allows the team to service north, south, east and western suburbs of Brisbane. Brunswick Street is a very popular strip with high visibility. Since 2010, we’ve doubled in size, with new agents joining and existing lead agents expanding their own teams as well. To accommodate this growth, we also took over the ice-cream shop which was next door to us.

As the director of Place New Farm, what do you enjoy most about leading this team?

Before opening the office, I had expertise in running my own sales teams, so it was the next step to grow a larger Place team. I get so much enjoyment out of seeing the agents, sales support and property managers grow and succeed in terms of both sales and personal lives. From financial growth to personal development, it is my number one priority that all our people feel like they are on the road to achieving their own dreams.

What inspired the recent office renovation?

It is important for our people to have an inviting working environment. The office was due for a makeover and we wanted to capture a fresh, homely and modern environment in line with the Place brand and our flagship Bulimba office. The design oozes earthy, natural colour tones combined with marble and textured wallpaper. We have used our signature colour palate, Dulux Domino and Dulux Grid, teamed with Calcutta marble bench tops while featuring a beautifully hand-painted bookshelf and architectural pendants from Lumen8.